The Norman Transcript--Nature's intelligence

The Norman Transcript--Nature's intelligence: "An immense warehouse on Industrial Boulevard stores secrets from the earth and grows heavier by the moment.

The Oklahoma Petroleum Information Center (OPIC), now entering its fourth year, stores rock “cores,” charts, completion records, well logs and other reports for completed oil and gas wells in 44 states.

OPIC, now the largest petroleum records library in the U.S., is the “mother lode” of information for re-exploring drilling opportunities. Its secrets could become the basis for the price consumers will pay for fuel to move their cars and heat their homes. The facility is operated by the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS), a state agency based at the University of Oklahoma.

The repository of “nature’s intelligence” locked far below the surface of the earth, is increasingly consulted by geologists, independent petroleum drilling companies and royalty owners. They search for opportunities the major oil companies may have overlooked. The records date to the early 20th Century, when black crude oil gushed from the first wooden derricks in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana."